


Passing Storm

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 05:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-JE, the Doctor and Rose are stuck in a hotel room in Norway during a thunderstorm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passing Storm

Rain beat a steady drum against the windows of their shabby hotel, the best accommodation they could find this side of Norway. Rose shivered, surveying her surroundings with slumping shoulders.

The room was almost completely dark; Rose could just make out a twin bed pushed up against the wall and a battered arm chair facing the window. There was a small kitchenette near the entrance with a table that tilted to one side.

Rose sunk into the armchair, drawing her knees up to her chest and staring blankly at the pounding rain.

A flash of lightening briefly illuminated the room, revealing cobwebs in the corners and a cracked ceiling. She reckoned her mum would have a thing or two to say about that in the morning.

The door creaked open behind her and Rose glanced over. It was the Doctor. He was holding a small candle and the flames danced in front of his face, casting shadows across the room.

“No good,” he said with some frustration, setting the candle down on the table. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his jacket was soaking wet. “The power’s out for miles around. If I had the sonic screwdriver...”

He trailed off and Rose turned away, unable to stop the thought that the Doctor—the real Doctor—would have found a way to turn the power back on. She felt a flush of guilt and kept her head bowed, suddenly unable to look at him. When she looked at him—when she saw how the _same_ he was—it made it harder to keep holding herself back.

She heard him sigh, like he sensed her thoughts, and then the creaking of springs as he lowered himself onto the bed.

She chanced a glance in his direction. He was sitting with his face in his hands, his shoulders slumped. Thunder reverberated through the hotel and the candle on the table flickered before settling.

Rose felt a lump gather in her throat. “Doctor?”

He scrubbed at his face and then raised his head. Lightening flashed through the room, illuminating his features. He looked so much older than she remembered. His face was cracked and narrow like they had been separated for decades rather than a few years.

Again, she felt that same pull towards him—to go to him, to touch him, to comfort him...

But she didn’t even know who he was—if he was just a clone or a copy of the real thing or not the Doctor at all. And she could still feel the hot whisper of his “I love you” in her ear and the thrill of _finally_ being able to press her lips against his, pouring out years worth of longing in a single kiss.

Her fingers fudged at her knees. She wouldn’t have kissed someone like that if he wasn’t the Doctor. Would she?

“Do you remember...” she began haltingly, “the last time we got stuck in a rainstorm?”

“The Moonshaw planet, the year 1983, in their most expansive jungle,” he said, smile tugging at his lips. “We got stuck in a cave for three days. You were starving by the end...”

“I was half out of my mind by that point,” Rose said with a small laugh. “I probably would have tried eating my own hair if you hadn’t been there.”

“You were brilliant,” he said softly. Then he shook himself. “Of course I remember it, Rose. I remember everything. I’m... me. Well, having one heart is a bit... weird, but somehow you humans manage to cope.”

“Somehow,” Rose said dryly.

“And no more regenerating,” he continued. “ _That’s_ a bit of an adjustment. I suppose I’ll have to start being... careful now. Blimey.”

“You better be.”

“The rest of it, though, the parts that matter, that’s still there.” He paused, voice deepening. “The Time War and Davros and running towards you on that empty, London street—thinking that for one second, one _brilliant_ second, the universe was actually giving me something back.”

Rose bit her lip. “Didn’t it?”

She felt more than saw him staring at her, a long hard look that had her shifting uncomfortably. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I suppose it did.”

She was suddenly eager to change the topic. “Are you... is it difficult being stuck here without the TARDIS?”

It was a moment before he answered her. “Yes.”

“Oh,” she said. She looked down at her lap, her fingers twisting together. He was just like her, then—cast out to a fate in another world. He had her as a sympathy prize, a runner-up, something to keep him occupied without the TARDIS.

And how could she blame him, really? Deep down, as much as the Doctor cared for her, Rose had always known that he would choose the TARDIS first.

“Time Lords are telepathic, you know. After the Time War, I thought it was the end—everything was so quiet. But it wasn’t like this. Even then... I still had the TARDIS.” He sounded desperate and a little bit lost and it tugged at her heart. Lightening flashed in the room again and she saw that his eyes were closed, his body still. “But I’ll be all right. I’ll adjust... I’ll be...”

He trailed off as another rumble of thunder hit the room. The candle flickered again and then went out.

The Doctor’s shape became nothing but a blur on the bed. Rose’s heart was beating very fast. She thought about what the Doctor had said on the beach. _He needs you. That’s very me._

Heart still pounding, she pushed herself to her feet, taking a few stumbling steps towards the bed. Her knees hit the mattress and she tottered before inelegantly collapsing down onto it. She instinctively reached for his hand, got his elbow instead, but he reached for her at the same time, his arms coming around her frame and hugging her close.

She hugged him back, nose pushed up against his wet shoulder, hands sliding against his back. His chin came down to rest on her shoulder and he breathed her in, murmuring “ _Rose_ ” in a way that made her toes curl.

“Hi,” she whispered back, trying to ignore the way her voice was shaking. “Doctor.”

She wasn’t sure when she stopped thinking of him as “the other one” and as the Doctor, but she could no longer pretend that she wasn’t drawn to him—this person who looked like the Doctor and sounded like the Doctor and _was_ the Doctor.

He would have known she’d never be able to resist him.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck here, with me,” she found herself babbling at the same time as he said, “I can go, any time you want—it should be your choice.”

“Shut up,” she managed to say, clinging to him harder, nose pressed against his throat. “I don’t want you to go. Never ever. It’s just... an adjustment. Like you said.”

“Like I said,” he whispered back. “It’s not such a bad trade-off, you know. You instead of the TARDIS.”

“Do you mean that?” she said, raising her head. She could barely make out the outline of his face in the dark.

“I knew what was happening,” he murmured. “I didn’t exactly do much to stop it, did I?”

“No,” Rose admitted, remembering how it felt like they were tag-teaming her on the beach.

His hands grasped her face, thumbs sweeping along her cheek. Instinctively she closed her eyes. “Rose?” he whispered. “D’you think I could kiss you?”

She licked her lips. “Yeah, that’d be all right.” She paused and managed a smile. “Better than.”

Thunder rumbled somewhere off in the distance as the Doctor leaned in. Then something dinged and bright light cut across Rose’s eyelids. She blinked her eyes open, squinting under the harsh glare of the overhead lights.

The Doctor dropped his hands from her face and looked around, head cocking to one side. “Ah, there we go! Power’s back on.” He turned towards her with a hopeful smile. “The storm must be moving out.”

Rose glanced at the window—the heavy thumping of the rain had turned to a dull splatter—before turning back to the Doctor. He looked so much younger when he smiled.

She felt unexpectedly choked up. She reached out and fiddled with the lapel of his suit jacket. “We’ll have to buy you some ties. I love your ties.”

“Yeah?” he said, sounding cocky and proud of himself. Then he frowned. “You mean in an actual shop? Blimey, it’s been ages since I’ve gone shopping in a shop.”

“We might have to use real money and everything,” said Rose. She released his jacket and then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hey. Weren’t you about to kiss me?”

“Kiss you?” he repeated, gaze immediately falling to her lips.

“Yeah,” Rose said, trailing her fingers along the back of his neck. He shivered and Rose’s heart beat a steady drum in her chest.

He met her gaze before leaning in, pressing his lips to hers. The kiss was more tentative than the one on the beach, like they were still unsure of each other. Rose leaned in, deepening the kiss, her tongue flicking out against his lips.

The lights flickered as the storm noisily rumbled overhead again and they pulled away. The Doctor’s hand slid down her back, pulling her in close and she wound her arms around his neck, pressing her face against his shoulder. She had a feeling neither of them were going to be getting much sleep.


End file.
